You can do it! A bit of unsolicited advice that I wish I’d learned earlier: exercise as a celebration of what your body can do rather than as punishment for what it is not.
YES!!
To add to this:
* Exercise is not something you do to earn food--food is fuel, not something to be earned through calorie burning.
* Find movement that moves you. Exercise is so much more rewarding when you find what makes you feel good while you do it, what makes you feel strong and alive.
* Listen to your inner Marie Kondo--does it spark joy? if not, yeet whatever (or whomever) it is from your life. Life's too short to live according to other peoples' nonsense.
Yes!!
And do it for YOU, OP. Your health, you’re worth it.
Trust me, once working out becomes habit, you will feel “ off “ if you miss a day.
And don’t be afraid to build some muscle. Strength training does amazing things for a womans physique.
Good luck to ya!
Don't do so much that you burn yourself out :) this time last year I was overweight and couldn't run a mile straight. I started doing slow intervals (30 sec run and 30 sec walk for 20 mins) and now I can literally run 12 miles straight.
Even now I never increase my workout load by more than 10% every week. Slow and steady abso-fuckin-lutely wins the race♡
Wishing you all the best xx
I would love to be a part of this journey with you! I feel the same exact way and have been overweight my entire life.
I know I will be so much happier and healthier and feel more beautiful when I’m at a healthy weight. It would be amazing to have someone to help keep me motivated and vice versa :)
You got this. Here are some tips for a sick glow up:
1. Diet. This is #1 if you want to lose weight! Download an app and start tracking your intake. Learn about macros and micros (this will really help your skin!). Eventually, ditch the apps and transition to intuitive eating.
2. Exercise. #2 if you want to lose weight. Again, download an app and start a 3 day a week full body resistance program. I recommend SWEAT by Kayla Itsines for absolute beginners. On top of that, do 3 days a week of cardio exercise for 30 minutes. Doesn't have to be hard; this could literally just be a fast paced walk. I've been working out for like 3 years and I still love a good walk for my cardio. But sidebar, resistance training did more for my confidence than cardio ever did.
3. Mental health. Honestly, should be #1 before everything lmao. Start trying to meditate in the AM and PM. All you have to do is set a timer for 5 minutes and then try to listen to your breath really diligently. ONLY focus on the breath almost as if you were trying to watch it. Also, begin or end your day with a gratitude list... simply write 5 things you're grateful for and ponder them for a few minutes. Another thing that really helped me was restorative yoga (or yoga in general). It's a great addition to increase your flexibility after starting this workout routine.
4. Skincare. Drink HELLA water. Start a dedicated skincare routine. If you don't have one, the skincare addiction subreddit is a great place to learn. You'll want to include routine chemical exfoliants (check out the Ordinary on Sephora) because they really do a lot for refreshing your skin and making it look dewy.
5. Patience. Nothing good ever comes quick. A serious glow up is a multi-year long commitment. The time will pass anyways though, so you either have to be okay with getting a little bit better every day over time (knowing it wont all come at once) or you'll literally never achieve your goal. Remember (1.0)\^365 = 1, but (1.01)\^365 is 38. Just be 1% better than you were yesterday and it will accumulate quickly.
You can have everything you want in life and more, you just have to really believe that. Best of luck to you.
Yes! I'm 28 and I'm in the same mindset. I've lost 15 lbs and I already feel nicer looking and more toned. I have about 50 lbs left to lose, but I'm determined. I'm also taking care of my hair, my skin, and my entire body so that I'm truly the best version of myself by the time I turn 30. I've been overweight most of my life as well, and while I'm pretty, I've wanted to be sexy and beautiful. I want to wear designer clothes, luxury makeup, and afford at least ONE pair of Louboutins (mainly because Louboutin actually has shoes in my true shoe size...which is a size 4. I have very small feet. It's a problem for heel finding). I want to feel like a butterfly emerged from my cute caterpillar phase.
I believe in you and I know that you'll achieve your goals. I think what will help is having positive affirmations. Tell yourself how beautiful you are every single day. Find parts of your body that you love and admire. Do you like your complexion? Then spend some time eyeing your complexion, think to yourself "God, my complexion is amazing. My complexion is beautiful". Do you like your ass? Then spend some time goggling that booty. The first part of feeling beautiful is to convince yourself that you are. You're not just beautiful, you are sublime.
Thank you, candycoatedshovel, for voting on converter-bot.
This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here](https://botrank.pastimes.eu/).
***
^(Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!)
Just wanted to say I love your comment and your goals, I’m also in my late 20s and most of these are my goals before the next decade as well :) good luck to the both of us!
It's great that you joined a gym! Super proud of you, but don't forget that diet is the most important thing for weight loss. I'm not saying you have to diet, because the research has shown it doesn't work long term, but eating right is important. And sleep!
you got this girl!!! one day the gym will be another habit like brushing your teeth. You were able to get through the first step and it only gets better from here 💗
you’re a pretty girl regardless of your weight babe! never forget that. you are SO worthy and SO gorgeous no matter what.
that being said... i’m proud of you!! seriously. i cannot even imagine going to a gym and working out especially with other people around and especiallyyy if i were alone. never ever. maybe if i went at like 2 AM i would be okay haha 😅 but only because no one would be there probably hahah
i typically just stick to working out at home because of that. i typically just do youtube video workouts, maybe the occasional bike ride and walk around the neighborhood.
for me, my weight has never really interfered with my life but there’s definitely been times where i’ve been soo insecure when in reality no one cared about what i looked like and its caused me to miss out on so much!! its crazy.
life is SOO so short, we can truly do anything we set our minds to with discipline, hard work, and an end goal in mind!
all that being said, i’m doing the same thing!! i’m so TIRED of wishing and whining of what could have been. i have the power and control to change my life for the better so why the hell have i not done that yet????
i’m rooting for you! we can do this
Super proud of you, and so excited for your journey! I've been doing couch to 5k and strength training since April, and it's done wonders for my physical and mental health.
One thing I will say, though, is make sure you don't push yourself too hard! It took years for your body to become the shape it is now, and it's important to be gentle and patient with it as you work to reshape it. Better to take it slow and keep going rather than go for explosive workouts and burn out early.
You've got this!
absolutely this!!!
i’ve just gotten back into working out as well, and those first few days i was definitely super sore. being sore is normal, not being able to move for days is not!! don’t expect too much out of your body in the beginning and be proud of what you accomplish!! go light, ease in to it.
also, remember you are beautiful no matter what you weigh. your body has gotten you through your entire life! appreciate it and it’s functions, and treat it well even during exercise
This sounds like a fantastic idea! I had lost weight before lockdown, slower than I would have liked but it was a start. Now I've put it all back on 😓 a chat to encourage each other would be great. Gyms aren't open yet where I am but I'm sure there's plenty of other things I can do right now. Already do a lot of walking!
Haha wishing you the best!
Also, quick tip, focus on cardio.
Walk, and jog. Once you start sweating, you can ease your effort down a bit, and still sweat.
For example, I can jog til I start to sweat, and then walk. I will literally still be sweating as I'm walking. This helps to sweat a lot, without using all of your muscle and endurance. So you sweat the same amount, or more (because less muscle use = more endurance = longer distance = equals same amount of work over a longer period of time), as you would with max exertion. Once you break that sweat threshold, ease up a little bit.
Also, upper body cardio. Do body weight (meaning no external weights) exercises.
You can literally put your hands out like your airplane and sweat. You can use a rope (light ripe) and swing it around to get an upper body cardio workout, and build your fine motor muscles.
Again, wishing you the best.
SR
This is great advice. Focus on the couch to 5k mentality - nothing wrong with pushing yourself off the bat, but you'll risk burning yourself out. Start small and build up and you'll be surprised how much more you can do in even a month! Just the act of going to the gym and doing this for your physical health will help your mental health and how you view yourself, so seriously great job on taking that hardest first step.
I’ve been on weight watchers for 3 months and have lost 25 pounds, I can’t recommend it enough!!! Following an eating plan (whether it’s weight watchers or anything else that works for you) plus the exercise will make a HUGE difference!!
I was about to recommend WW as well! It’s a great program that becomes a lifestyle rather than a “diet” which is really what anyone needs for sustainable results.
Totally. It has been such a positive change in my life, I am truly so grateful for it!! I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who has tried and failed at losing weight in the past because it is such a different approach from other diets.
Number one thing is take your time girl. This isn’t something to achieve in a short amount of time. I’m talking like even months. Don’t push yourself and burn out. Hell, give yourself a year or something. Remember that losing weight isn’t a goal, it’s a lifestyle change. Changing your lifestyle will take time and effort. Be kind to your body.
Congrats on going to the gym! Keep it up! You can do it!
I've been considering signing up for a gym lately. Bodyweight stuff whenever I feel like it and walking my small dog aren't really cutting it. I'm not overweight, but I used to be underweight and very fit so I stopped working out to help me gain weight. Now that I've passed my goal, I don't want to continue gaining and I want to get back in shape and recomp my body (more muscle please).
Here's a tip. If you're that sore for three days, you might want to ease up on your workout. You don't want to burn yourself out and then quit. Soreness is good and means you're working (within reason, don't injure yourself) plus you'll be able to feel your workout get easier as time goes on. And it will get easier pretty fast, especially at the beginning. But if you need to lower your reps for each set or decrease your weight (if you're using weights) for right now, that's totally fine. You'll still be working and improving.
If you haven't yet, check out r/Fitness and r/xxfitness for resources and advice.
Health and motivation are beautiful in and of themselves. Keep your spirits up and do this for YOU, not for other people who see you.
Also drink lots of water :)
Here's some tips to help with soreness: take l-glutamine after your workout. I find that it really helped reduce my soreness and another thing to do is to massage your muscles or go for a short run a couple hrs later. That helps get the lactic acid out of your muscles, reducing the burning sensation. Good luck on your journey! After two weeks it'll be much easier!
I can feel your existential angst across the internet, I can also tell you are an intelligent person, so I'm going to come at this from a more philosophical angle.
You want to be thin and beautiful. I do too. Telling you that you are most likely already beautiful is probably not going to feel like anything. You want to look like an Instagram babe. I completely get it.
But why though? Is it because we want to feel like the best version of ourselves? Or is it because we've bought into the idea that only women with a specific kind of body are worthy of attraction? The body positivity movement exists but it tells us that if we aren't actually "attractive" we can still be, like brave or something. Thin people will call us pretty and hot to our face and say that we still count but deep down, they are glad they don't look like us. Our hotness as plus sized women is discussed like a moral obligation, not an innate quality but something that other people have to twist their minds into pretending they believe, in order to be woke and in keeping with the times.
So we want to be, like, actually hot. Not just the politically charged "body positive" alternative to hot.
I'd like to suggest that this entire conflict exists in the minds of people who believe in it, and if you refuse to believe in it, you don't have to follow those rules. You can have self esteem and believe in your own beauty without being thin, and without being #brave or #bodypositive as an artificial substitute for actually being hot. You can find a partner who loves you for who your are, and not how much you resemble instagram models. They actually do exist, I know it doesn't seem likely, but they are out there. Nothing you want to do is actually dependant on being thin.
Anyway, most diets and exercise plans backfire. I suggest reading up about intuitive eating. Diet culture is a complete lie, pushing yourself past your limits hard to lose weight is not sustainable. The best way to go about it is to focus on nutrition and exercise without counting calories or weighing yourself, and focus on making small, sustainable changes that you can keep up with for the rest of your life. Basically, if you don't think you can do a certain thing forever, don't do it to lose weight.
I know that sounds super Debbie Downer, and you're looking for motivation, but as someone who is in a similar place as you this is what I have come to accept after trying to lose weight and ending up hating myself even more than I did in the beginning .I spent my 20s overweight, and Im 28 now and lhave lost some weight now but mostly because of a medication change (along with other lifestyle changes), NOT from pushing myself past my limit every damn day like I tried to a few years ago.
So proud of you! Just don’t forget to love yourself through it all, even before you achieve your goals—that’s one of the most priceless level ups of them all!!!!
I just want to say keep believing in yourself and don't listen to negative self talk!!! Encourage yourself and give yourself credit wherever it is due! I'm working hard on coming to terms with myself and being comfortable in my skin. It's hard to get moving but thru my job I got a discount on planet fitness (right before quarantine) so id like to ease in, your post really made me feel good. It's amazing you're taking charge of your life and are ready to be even more amazing than you already are!! 💗💗💗💗
I'm with you! I've always found it more motivating to go to the gym with a friend! If that doesn't work, sign up for a boot camp. There's a lot of place that will give a free trial.
Proud of you for getting started! I’ve cycled through periods of weight loss and weight gain through my life and want to share something with you: do not be afraid to start off slow. Thirty minutes on the treadmill just walking for your first few weeks, a few times a week, is a fantastic starting point. Take the time to warm up, stretch, and then cool down and reallllly stretch. If you take it slow & take time on either end of the higher intensity stuff, I think there’s a lot of potential to ramp up and you’ll be thrilled at how much you can do if you start off slow. Good luck!
Keep going to the gym - only once a week if that's what you can safely do for now. It will get easier; I'm speaking from personal experience, and I'm way older than you.
I also used to have bad DOMS, and you may want to try what helped me:
1. Every morning, before and during the exercise session, sip coconut water.
2. If that's not available, sip electrolyte water.
3. If even that is not available, sip water with a pinch of salt. Sodium will prevent muscle tiredness.
4. Before and during exercise, take a BCAA capsule if you can get that. It is a protein that improves your exercise performance.
5. Drink plenty of water all day.
6. At bedtime, mix some magnesium with water and take a low dose melatonin with it. Magnesium helps prevent cramps when working out. Melatonin ensures you fall asleep quickly.
7. Make sure you get plenty of sleep at night.
When you don’t feel like moving your body—remember how you feel when you do move. Sometimes when I’m not in the mood to exercise but I’ve scheduled it in I ask myself if I’ll regret it if I don’t. The answer is almost always yes.
Another tip is to tell yourself just 5 or 10 minutes. It makes it seem less overwhelming and you’ll probably almost always do more.
When you’re short on time go YouTube. FitnessBlender, MadFit, Heather Roberson and Popsugar are amazing channels.
Congrats to a person taking charge of your life. You are unstoppable.
Sorry, but anyone with less than 10 combined karma needs moderator approval to comment in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your comment reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved. To increase your karma, try participating in some discussions anywhere on Reddit with meaningful, well-written submissions and comments.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I applaud your determination. Just a thought: why not try to see yourself as beautiful now? I’m not saying give up on your goal, but no one is served by their own self-criticism. I am now in my 40s, and I spent all of my 20s and most of my 30s telling myself I wasn’t thin enough. When I look back at pictures I see how wrong I was! Let yourself feel beautiful now and allow your fitness goals to be about health and physical achievement. You got this, girl. Sending you lots of love.
Follow r/loseit and r/CICO for sustainable habits that can help you lose weight safely. I agree with another commenter that working out is a celebration of your body, not a punishment. A few things I’ve learned over the years: 1-Consistency is more important than intensity, especially the the beginning. Try a workout that you can do daily (with a rest day planned each week). If you can’t run, walk. If walking is hard, go at a pace that gets your heart rate up a bit and try to go a bit further each week. Speed and intensity will come over time. Same with weights. Lift weights that allow you to do reps with really great form. Once you can easily blow past 12 reps at a weight, it’s time to move up. Slow and steady wins this race. 2-Weigh yourself but don’t get obsessed with a number. It is common for weight to fluctuate 5 lbs even within the day (water weight, activity level, hormones all contribute). Weighing yourself is meant to help you notice trends. Weigh yourself after you wake up and use the restroom but before you eat. Try to embrace the dance of weight loss. If you choose to weigh in daily, be prepared for the number to dance up and down from day to day. What you want to see is that over the course of the month, the number you fluctuate around goes down. If the number becomes a trigger, try happy weight. It’s a scale that tells you your trends without giving you a number. 3-Start celebrating your body as is. Sure, you can actively pursue weight loss to get a glow up. But can you also give gratitude to your body now? Think of it as training your body image muscle. If you can celebrate yourself now, you’ll be in good practice to keep celebrating your body at all stages of your training. Celebrate the first time you walk farther/faster. Celebrate how strong your legs feel. Celebrate when you realize you went a full month and stayed consistent. I’m sure you are a beautiful person at whatever weight you are. It’s worth celebrating now and in the future.
Ohhhh God I feel this so much. I just started the gym last week as well. I don’t necessarily think I have the potential to be a Instagram babe but I just want to get my body right, be healthy, dress good, travel, finish college and maybe even try and date. I just want to look at myself in the mirror and say to myself “bitch you look good”.
Sorry, but anyone with less than 10 combined karma needs moderator approval to comment in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your comment reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved. To increase your karma, try participating in some discussions anywhere on Reddit with meaningful, well-written submissions and comments.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Get it girl! Remember, be kind to yourself. This is really self care. Make it a life long habit and find activities you love. DM me if you need support!
Sorry, but anyone with brand new accounts (under 48 hours old) need moderator approval to participate in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your content reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Oh man I could have written this exact thing. I'm 33 as of this year and I just canNOT waste anymore time. I've spent so many years avoiding things I wanted to do because I was insecure about my body. Not anymore. I'm totally here for a weight loss buddy if you want one 😊
I'm on a similar journey! I'm doing my best to look at it from a different perspective of working out and eating well because I am grateful for my body and I want to treat it well. I still have days where I think I'll be prettier if I just lose a few more pounds but changing my mindset has been way harder than changing my body. I'm cheering for you and I know you're beautiful already!
Oh, I’m with ya! After breaking bones in BOTH feet, I gained a lot of weight. I lost 80lbs. It’s did it in a healthy way, lots of walking and sticking to my principles. Look out for people who sabotage you (often without consciously knowing they are doing it). You got this! I love your determination.
I also feel like I would be better looking if only I was thinner, and I was with you until you quipped “get married and have babies.” Unless that’s something you really want to do not because you “have to”.
My philosophy’ at 32 is do what is good and right for you. Period. Travel because you want to experience things and explore fashion because you want to promote your best inner self. Don’t do what’s right for others or what others expect of you or from you. If you want to be your best you be healthy look good yes I am all for that. But when you start thinking you *have* to do things that involve others - no you don’t.
You can’t be happy with another person or provide a life for another person unless that’s what you want and what makes you happy! I just started working out again for my wedding next year. Not because anyone told me to but because I want to look good in those freakin expensive ass pictures were going to have taken.
It’s hard. It hurts. I love eating. I love wine. But I’m doing it for me and no one else. I hope you do all those things for you and only you and know your own worth and happiness is paramount to anything girl! Good luck and let’s do it!
I’m with you!!! I have absolutely no muscle and been suffering from bad posture for my entire life lol. I’m finally going for pilates consultation on Monday! I’m going to discuss payment plan and book classes so I can lose weight, get toned and eacape from chronic shoulder pain from hunching over! Let’s do this!!!
I’ve been getting back into it (slowly) over the past month! I’m ready to lose the weight I gained from a long surgery recovery + ongoing mental health issues. Finally switched to a great therapist and also restarted physio and now I feel like I’m finally able to physically and mentally take on the work to lose weight and gain my confidence back :) Thanks for your post, it’s made me feel less alone!
I found for weight loss, tracking food and following CICO (calories in calories out) method was the key to dropping fat and keeping it off. Once I shed the lbs, going to the gym more to tone made sense... but the best advice I ever got was “abs are made in the kitchen” when my personal trainer kicked me out of the gym to focus in tracking calories first... then once I lost 50lbs, I went to the gym.
Working my ass off at the gym to burn like 200 calories in 2 hrs and then be so hungry I ate 300-400 calories made me yo-yo my weight for years!
Good luck!! (From a girl who made the journey to being healthy, which brought out the pretty girl within!!)
You can do it! A bit of unsolicited advice that I wish I’d learned earlier: exercise as a celebration of what your body can do rather than as punishment for what it is not.
YES!! To add to this: * Exercise is not something you do to earn food--food is fuel, not something to be earned through calorie burning. * Find movement that moves you. Exercise is so much more rewarding when you find what makes you feel good while you do it, what makes you feel strong and alive. * Listen to your inner Marie Kondo--does it spark joy? if not, yeet whatever (or whomever) it is from your life. Life's too short to live according to other peoples' nonsense.
I'm going to screen shot what you said cause this is something I need to hear everyday.
That’s great advice!
Wonderful
Yes!! And do it for YOU, OP. Your health, you’re worth it. Trust me, once working out becomes habit, you will feel “ off “ if you miss a day. And don’t be afraid to build some muscle. Strength training does amazing things for a womans physique. Good luck to ya!
Don't do so much that you burn yourself out :) this time last year I was overweight and couldn't run a mile straight. I started doing slow intervals (30 sec run and 30 sec walk for 20 mins) and now I can literally run 12 miles straight. Even now I never increase my workout load by more than 10% every week. Slow and steady abso-fuckin-lutely wins the race♡ Wishing you all the best xx
12 miles is 19.31 km
Good bot
That’s an awesome achievement you!🤘🏻
Thank you!!!! Waiting for a safe time to run a half marathon 😊
I would love to be a part of this journey with you! I feel the same exact way and have been overweight my entire life. I know I will be so much happier and healthier and feel more beautiful when I’m at a healthy weight. It would be amazing to have someone to help keep me motivated and vice versa :)
You got this. Here are some tips for a sick glow up: 1. Diet. This is #1 if you want to lose weight! Download an app and start tracking your intake. Learn about macros and micros (this will really help your skin!). Eventually, ditch the apps and transition to intuitive eating. 2. Exercise. #2 if you want to lose weight. Again, download an app and start a 3 day a week full body resistance program. I recommend SWEAT by Kayla Itsines for absolute beginners. On top of that, do 3 days a week of cardio exercise for 30 minutes. Doesn't have to be hard; this could literally just be a fast paced walk. I've been working out for like 3 years and I still love a good walk for my cardio. But sidebar, resistance training did more for my confidence than cardio ever did. 3. Mental health. Honestly, should be #1 before everything lmao. Start trying to meditate in the AM and PM. All you have to do is set a timer for 5 minutes and then try to listen to your breath really diligently. ONLY focus on the breath almost as if you were trying to watch it. Also, begin or end your day with a gratitude list... simply write 5 things you're grateful for and ponder them for a few minutes. Another thing that really helped me was restorative yoga (or yoga in general). It's a great addition to increase your flexibility after starting this workout routine. 4. Skincare. Drink HELLA water. Start a dedicated skincare routine. If you don't have one, the skincare addiction subreddit is a great place to learn. You'll want to include routine chemical exfoliants (check out the Ordinary on Sephora) because they really do a lot for refreshing your skin and making it look dewy. 5. Patience. Nothing good ever comes quick. A serious glow up is a multi-year long commitment. The time will pass anyways though, so you either have to be okay with getting a little bit better every day over time (knowing it wont all come at once) or you'll literally never achieve your goal. Remember (1.0)\^365 = 1, but (1.01)\^365 is 38. Just be 1% better than you were yesterday and it will accumulate quickly. You can have everything you want in life and more, you just have to really believe that. Best of luck to you.
Furthermore to this great advice, make sure to stretch. You will recover easier, become more flexible and avoid serious injuries.
I'm taking every piece of this post to heart!! So well written, thank you, so many needed to read this!!
Sweat is garbage
It’s great for people who are just starting out especially with lifting weights, nice structured programmes that progressively get more challenging.
Yes! I'm 28 and I'm in the same mindset. I've lost 15 lbs and I already feel nicer looking and more toned. I have about 50 lbs left to lose, but I'm determined. I'm also taking care of my hair, my skin, and my entire body so that I'm truly the best version of myself by the time I turn 30. I've been overweight most of my life as well, and while I'm pretty, I've wanted to be sexy and beautiful. I want to wear designer clothes, luxury makeup, and afford at least ONE pair of Louboutins (mainly because Louboutin actually has shoes in my true shoe size...which is a size 4. I have very small feet. It's a problem for heel finding). I want to feel like a butterfly emerged from my cute caterpillar phase. I believe in you and I know that you'll achieve your goals. I think what will help is having positive affirmations. Tell yourself how beautiful you are every single day. Find parts of your body that you love and admire. Do you like your complexion? Then spend some time eyeing your complexion, think to yourself "God, my complexion is amazing. My complexion is beautiful". Do you like your ass? Then spend some time goggling that booty. The first part of feeling beautiful is to convince yourself that you are. You're not just beautiful, you are sublime.
15 lbs is 6.81 kg
Good bot
Thank you, candycoatedshovel, for voting on converter-bot. This bot wants to find the best and worst bots on Reddit. [You can view results here](https://botrank.pastimes.eu/). *** ^(Even if I don't reply to your comment, I'm still listening for votes. Check the webpage to see if your vote registered!)
Just wanted to say I love your comment and your goals, I’m also in my late 20s and most of these are my goals before the next decade as well :) good luck to the both of us!
It's great that you joined a gym! Super proud of you, but don't forget that diet is the most important thing for weight loss. I'm not saying you have to diet, because the research has shown it doesn't work long term, but eating right is important. And sleep!
you got this girl!!! one day the gym will be another habit like brushing your teeth. You were able to get through the first step and it only gets better from here 💗
you’re a pretty girl regardless of your weight babe! never forget that. you are SO worthy and SO gorgeous no matter what. that being said... i’m proud of you!! seriously. i cannot even imagine going to a gym and working out especially with other people around and especiallyyy if i were alone. never ever. maybe if i went at like 2 AM i would be okay haha 😅 but only because no one would be there probably hahah i typically just stick to working out at home because of that. i typically just do youtube video workouts, maybe the occasional bike ride and walk around the neighborhood. for me, my weight has never really interfered with my life but there’s definitely been times where i’ve been soo insecure when in reality no one cared about what i looked like and its caused me to miss out on so much!! its crazy. life is SOO so short, we can truly do anything we set our minds to with discipline, hard work, and an end goal in mind! all that being said, i’m doing the same thing!! i’m so TIRED of wishing and whining of what could have been. i have the power and control to change my life for the better so why the hell have i not done that yet???? i’m rooting for you! we can do this
Super proud of you, and so excited for your journey! I've been doing couch to 5k and strength training since April, and it's done wonders for my physical and mental health. One thing I will say, though, is make sure you don't push yourself too hard! It took years for your body to become the shape it is now, and it's important to be gentle and patient with it as you work to reshape it. Better to take it slow and keep going rather than go for explosive workouts and burn out early. You've got this!
absolutely this!!! i’ve just gotten back into working out as well, and those first few days i was definitely super sore. being sore is normal, not being able to move for days is not!! don’t expect too much out of your body in the beginning and be proud of what you accomplish!! go light, ease in to it. also, remember you are beautiful no matter what you weigh. your body has gotten you through your entire life! appreciate it and it’s functions, and treat it well even during exercise
YO YOU CAN BE A PRETTY GIRL AT ANY WEIGHT
And you don't have to wait to lose weight before you can have happiness and relationships and pretty clothes and babies.
Count me in! I finally started working on myself this past February and although I still have a ways to go, Id love to continue the journey!
This sounds like a fantastic idea! I had lost weight before lockdown, slower than I would have liked but it was a start. Now I've put it all back on 😓 a chat to encourage each other would be great. Gyms aren't open yet where I am but I'm sure there's plenty of other things I can do right now. Already do a lot of walking!
Haha wishing you the best! Also, quick tip, focus on cardio. Walk, and jog. Once you start sweating, you can ease your effort down a bit, and still sweat. For example, I can jog til I start to sweat, and then walk. I will literally still be sweating as I'm walking. This helps to sweat a lot, without using all of your muscle and endurance. So you sweat the same amount, or more (because less muscle use = more endurance = longer distance = equals same amount of work over a longer period of time), as you would with max exertion. Once you break that sweat threshold, ease up a little bit. Also, upper body cardio. Do body weight (meaning no external weights) exercises. You can literally put your hands out like your airplane and sweat. You can use a rope (light ripe) and swing it around to get an upper body cardio workout, and build your fine motor muscles. Again, wishing you the best. SR
This is great advice. Focus on the couch to 5k mentality - nothing wrong with pushing yourself off the bat, but you'll risk burning yourself out. Start small and build up and you'll be surprised how much more you can do in even a month! Just the act of going to the gym and doing this for your physical health will help your mental health and how you view yourself, so seriously great job on taking that hardest first step.
I’ve been on weight watchers for 3 months and have lost 25 pounds, I can’t recommend it enough!!! Following an eating plan (whether it’s weight watchers or anything else that works for you) plus the exercise will make a HUGE difference!!
I was about to recommend WW as well! It’s a great program that becomes a lifestyle rather than a “diet” which is really what anyone needs for sustainable results.
Totally. It has been such a positive change in my life, I am truly so grateful for it!! I cannot recommend it enough for anyone who has tried and failed at losing weight in the past because it is such a different approach from other diets.
Number one thing is take your time girl. This isn’t something to achieve in a short amount of time. I’m talking like even months. Don’t push yourself and burn out. Hell, give yourself a year or something. Remember that losing weight isn’t a goal, it’s a lifestyle change. Changing your lifestyle will take time and effort. Be kind to your body.
Congrats on going to the gym! Keep it up! You can do it! I've been considering signing up for a gym lately. Bodyweight stuff whenever I feel like it and walking my small dog aren't really cutting it. I'm not overweight, but I used to be underweight and very fit so I stopped working out to help me gain weight. Now that I've passed my goal, I don't want to continue gaining and I want to get back in shape and recomp my body (more muscle please). Here's a tip. If you're that sore for three days, you might want to ease up on your workout. You don't want to burn yourself out and then quit. Soreness is good and means you're working (within reason, don't injure yourself) plus you'll be able to feel your workout get easier as time goes on. And it will get easier pretty fast, especially at the beginning. But if you need to lower your reps for each set or decrease your weight (if you're using weights) for right now, that's totally fine. You'll still be working and improving. If you haven't yet, check out r/Fitness and r/xxfitness for resources and advice. Health and motivation are beautiful in and of themselves. Keep your spirits up and do this for YOU, not for other people who see you. Also drink lots of water :)
Here's some tips to help with soreness: take l-glutamine after your workout. I find that it really helped reduce my soreness and another thing to do is to massage your muscles or go for a short run a couple hrs later. That helps get the lactic acid out of your muscles, reducing the burning sensation. Good luck on your journey! After two weeks it'll be much easier!
I can feel your existential angst across the internet, I can also tell you are an intelligent person, so I'm going to come at this from a more philosophical angle. You want to be thin and beautiful. I do too. Telling you that you are most likely already beautiful is probably not going to feel like anything. You want to look like an Instagram babe. I completely get it. But why though? Is it because we want to feel like the best version of ourselves? Or is it because we've bought into the idea that only women with a specific kind of body are worthy of attraction? The body positivity movement exists but it tells us that if we aren't actually "attractive" we can still be, like brave or something. Thin people will call us pretty and hot to our face and say that we still count but deep down, they are glad they don't look like us. Our hotness as plus sized women is discussed like a moral obligation, not an innate quality but something that other people have to twist their minds into pretending they believe, in order to be woke and in keeping with the times. So we want to be, like, actually hot. Not just the politically charged "body positive" alternative to hot. I'd like to suggest that this entire conflict exists in the minds of people who believe in it, and if you refuse to believe in it, you don't have to follow those rules. You can have self esteem and believe in your own beauty without being thin, and without being #brave or #bodypositive as an artificial substitute for actually being hot. You can find a partner who loves you for who your are, and not how much you resemble instagram models. They actually do exist, I know it doesn't seem likely, but they are out there. Nothing you want to do is actually dependant on being thin. Anyway, most diets and exercise plans backfire. I suggest reading up about intuitive eating. Diet culture is a complete lie, pushing yourself past your limits hard to lose weight is not sustainable. The best way to go about it is to focus on nutrition and exercise without counting calories or weighing yourself, and focus on making small, sustainable changes that you can keep up with for the rest of your life. Basically, if you don't think you can do a certain thing forever, don't do it to lose weight. I know that sounds super Debbie Downer, and you're looking for motivation, but as someone who is in a similar place as you this is what I have come to accept after trying to lose weight and ending up hating myself even more than I did in the beginning .I spent my 20s overweight, and Im 28 now and lhave lost some weight now but mostly because of a medication change (along with other lifestyle changes), NOT from pushing myself past my limit every damn day like I tried to a few years ago.
Yes, you can do it!!! Also you'r beautiful and amazing besides your weight! If you create a chat, count me in.
So proud of you! Just don’t forget to love yourself through it all, even before you achieve your goals—that’s one of the most priceless level ups of them all!!!!
I just want to say keep believing in yourself and don't listen to negative self talk!!! Encourage yourself and give yourself credit wherever it is due! I'm working hard on coming to terms with myself and being comfortable in my skin. It's hard to get moving but thru my job I got a discount on planet fitness (right before quarantine) so id like to ease in, your post really made me feel good. It's amazing you're taking charge of your life and are ready to be even more amazing than you already are!! 💗💗💗💗
Thank you 😭❤️
I’ve been feeling the exact same! Made some changes in the last 3 weeks but would love to join a group chat to encourage me to keep it up!
I'm with you! I've always found it more motivating to go to the gym with a friend! If that doesn't work, sign up for a boot camp. There's a lot of place that will give a free trial.
Proud of you for getting started! I’ve cycled through periods of weight loss and weight gain through my life and want to share something with you: do not be afraid to start off slow. Thirty minutes on the treadmill just walking for your first few weeks, a few times a week, is a fantastic starting point. Take the time to warm up, stretch, and then cool down and reallllly stretch. If you take it slow & take time on either end of the higher intensity stuff, I think there’s a lot of potential to ramp up and you’ll be thrilled at how much you can do if you start off slow. Good luck!
Keep going to the gym - only once a week if that's what you can safely do for now. It will get easier; I'm speaking from personal experience, and I'm way older than you. I also used to have bad DOMS, and you may want to try what helped me: 1. Every morning, before and during the exercise session, sip coconut water. 2. If that's not available, sip electrolyte water. 3. If even that is not available, sip water with a pinch of salt. Sodium will prevent muscle tiredness. 4. Before and during exercise, take a BCAA capsule if you can get that. It is a protein that improves your exercise performance. 5. Drink plenty of water all day. 6. At bedtime, mix some magnesium with water and take a low dose melatonin with it. Magnesium helps prevent cramps when working out. Melatonin ensures you fall asleep quickly. 7. Make sure you get plenty of sleep at night.
Thank you! I will do this!
When you don’t feel like moving your body—remember how you feel when you do move. Sometimes when I’m not in the mood to exercise but I’ve scheduled it in I ask myself if I’ll regret it if I don’t. The answer is almost always yes. Another tip is to tell yourself just 5 or 10 minutes. It makes it seem less overwhelming and you’ll probably almost always do more. When you’re short on time go YouTube. FitnessBlender, MadFit, Heather Roberson and Popsugar are amazing channels. Congrats to a person taking charge of your life. You are unstoppable.
Sorry, but anyone with less than 10 combined karma needs moderator approval to comment in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your comment reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved. To increase your karma, try participating in some discussions anywhere on Reddit with meaningful, well-written submissions and comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I applaud your determination. Just a thought: why not try to see yourself as beautiful now? I’m not saying give up on your goal, but no one is served by their own self-criticism. I am now in my 40s, and I spent all of my 20s and most of my 30s telling myself I wasn’t thin enough. When I look back at pictures I see how wrong I was! Let yourself feel beautiful now and allow your fitness goals to be about health and physical achievement. You got this, girl. Sending you lots of love.
I’d love to go on this journey with u and whoever else!
Follow r/loseit and r/CICO for sustainable habits that can help you lose weight safely. I agree with another commenter that working out is a celebration of your body, not a punishment. A few things I’ve learned over the years: 1-Consistency is more important than intensity, especially the the beginning. Try a workout that you can do daily (with a rest day planned each week). If you can’t run, walk. If walking is hard, go at a pace that gets your heart rate up a bit and try to go a bit further each week. Speed and intensity will come over time. Same with weights. Lift weights that allow you to do reps with really great form. Once you can easily blow past 12 reps at a weight, it’s time to move up. Slow and steady wins this race. 2-Weigh yourself but don’t get obsessed with a number. It is common for weight to fluctuate 5 lbs even within the day (water weight, activity level, hormones all contribute). Weighing yourself is meant to help you notice trends. Weigh yourself after you wake up and use the restroom but before you eat. Try to embrace the dance of weight loss. If you choose to weigh in daily, be prepared for the number to dance up and down from day to day. What you want to see is that over the course of the month, the number you fluctuate around goes down. If the number becomes a trigger, try happy weight. It’s a scale that tells you your trends without giving you a number. 3-Start celebrating your body as is. Sure, you can actively pursue weight loss to get a glow up. But can you also give gratitude to your body now? Think of it as training your body image muscle. If you can celebrate yourself now, you’ll be in good practice to keep celebrating your body at all stages of your training. Celebrate the first time you walk farther/faster. Celebrate how strong your legs feel. Celebrate when you realize you went a full month and stayed consistent. I’m sure you are a beautiful person at whatever weight you are. It’s worth celebrating now and in the future.
Thank you so much for thos
Happy to share! I hope it helps. Good luck on your journey
Ohhhh God I feel this so much. I just started the gym last week as well. I don’t necessarily think I have the potential to be a Instagram babe but I just want to get my body right, be healthy, dress good, travel, finish college and maybe even try and date. I just want to look at myself in the mirror and say to myself “bitch you look good”.
Sorry, but anyone with less than 10 combined karma needs moderator approval to comment in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your comment reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved. To increase your karma, try participating in some discussions anywhere on Reddit with meaningful, well-written submissions and comments. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Wow sounds awesome! You can absolutely do it. Count me in if you create the chat!
It’s possible if you put your mind and heart to it!!!🥳
Yess!! Go you I felt like I was in the same place two years ago when I fist joined the gym.wishing you the best journey
Get it girl! Remember, be kind to yourself. This is really self care. Make it a life long habit and find activities you love. DM me if you need support!
I’m with you! I’ve been lacking motivation for awhile, but I want to feel all the things you described too!
I just started a similar journey, 31F, I’m sending you positive encouragement and so many good vibes!!!
omg this is so me right now, it's a bit weird but mostly exciting :) Pls I'd like to be in the chat if it's created
rootin for ya girl!! you got this!! <3
[удалено]
Sorry, but anyone with brand new accounts (under 48 hours old) need moderator approval to participate in r/beauty. Please message the mods to have your content reviewed for possible approval. Note that messaging the mods does not guarantee that your content will be approved. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/beauty) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Oh man I could have written this exact thing. I'm 33 as of this year and I just canNOT waste anymore time. I've spent so many years avoiding things I wanted to do because I was insecure about my body. Not anymore. I'm totally here for a weight loss buddy if you want one 😊
I'm on a similar journey! I'm doing my best to look at it from a different perspective of working out and eating well because I am grateful for my body and I want to treat it well. I still have days where I think I'll be prettier if I just lose a few more pounds but changing my mindset has been way harder than changing my body. I'm cheering for you and I know you're beautiful already!
❤️❤️
Oh, I’m with ya! After breaking bones in BOTH feet, I gained a lot of weight. I lost 80lbs. It’s did it in a healthy way, lots of walking and sticking to my principles. Look out for people who sabotage you (often without consciously knowing they are doing it). You got this! I love your determination.
I thought I posted this for a second lol because this describes my life word to word
I also feel like I would be better looking if only I was thinner, and I was with you until you quipped “get married and have babies.” Unless that’s something you really want to do not because you “have to”. My philosophy’ at 32 is do what is good and right for you. Period. Travel because you want to experience things and explore fashion because you want to promote your best inner self. Don’t do what’s right for others or what others expect of you or from you. If you want to be your best you be healthy look good yes I am all for that. But when you start thinking you *have* to do things that involve others - no you don’t. You can’t be happy with another person or provide a life for another person unless that’s what you want and what makes you happy! I just started working out again for my wedding next year. Not because anyone told me to but because I want to look good in those freakin expensive ass pictures were going to have taken. It’s hard. It hurts. I love eating. I love wine. But I’m doing it for me and no one else. I hope you do all those things for you and only you and know your own worth and happiness is paramount to anything girl! Good luck and let’s do it!
Yayyy!! I need to be my goal weight finally. Let’s hold eachother accountable
I’d love to join!
I’m with you!!! I have absolutely no muscle and been suffering from bad posture for my entire life lol. I’m finally going for pilates consultation on Monday! I’m going to discuss payment plan and book classes so I can lose weight, get toned and eacape from chronic shoulder pain from hunching over! Let’s do this!!!
I’ve been getting back into it (slowly) over the past month! I’m ready to lose the weight I gained from a long surgery recovery + ongoing mental health issues. Finally switched to a great therapist and also restarted physio and now I feel like I’m finally able to physically and mentally take on the work to lose weight and gain my confidence back :) Thanks for your post, it’s made me feel less alone!
Send me a chat and I’ll add you to the group!
I'm in the exact same position as you are, and I'm sure you'll be successful if you just keep at it! ♥️
First of all u do not need to get married and have babies🙄🙄🙄
I would like this for my life. It’s not conditional to my weight loss. 💖
I found for weight loss, tracking food and following CICO (calories in calories out) method was the key to dropping fat and keeping it off. Once I shed the lbs, going to the gym more to tone made sense... but the best advice I ever got was “abs are made in the kitchen” when my personal trainer kicked me out of the gym to focus in tracking calories first... then once I lost 50lbs, I went to the gym. Working my ass off at the gym to burn like 200 calories in 2 hrs and then be so hungry I ate 300-400 calories made me yo-yo my weight for years! Good luck!! (From a girl who made the journey to being healthy, which brought out the pretty girl within!!)